Kakapo Recovery programme manager Deidre Vercoe Scott said the two birds were discovered by rangers doing transmitter changes during the weekend. The first, Purity, hatched during the bumper 2009 breeding season. It was estimated she had been dead around ten days. The other, Monoa, which hatched in 2002, was found Sunday on Anchor Island. She had been dead for quite some time, indicating the two deaths were not linked.

Cause of death unknown

“At this stage, we have no idea what the cause of either death is. Initial autopsies have been carried out at Auckland Zoo and showed no obvious reasons,” she said.

Tissue samples had been sent to Massey University. “We now have to wait for further results.”

Ms Vercoe Scott said the kakapo deaths were a reminder that, although Kakapo Recovery had achieved much during the past 21 years – increasing the total population from 49 to 131 this year – the kakapo was still a critically endangered species and vulnerable.

“While it is such a shame to lose two young females, it’s a fact that, as kakapo numbers increase, we can expect a natural increase in mortality rates for a variety of reasons. The good news is more than half the kakapo population is young breeding age birds, so the recovery of kakapo is still in good shape.”

A male kakapo believed to be around 80 years old has been found dead at an already disappointing time – when the birds are not expected to breed this year. The male, known as Waynebo, was found on January 2 on Codfish Island, off Southland, where the Kakapo Recovery Programme is taking place: here.

April 2012. The transfer of seven critically endangered kakapo to Little Barrier Island is a significant move to help secure the species’ survival, according to NZ Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson: here.